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Standard Banker’s Eastern Cape rugby festival is a talent pipeline of future rugby stars
Boitumelo
Community Coordinator

Every year, hundreds of youngsters in an underprivileged region take part in a tournament that has its roots in a son’s tribute to his father. Ever since one of the Eastern Cape’s greatest sports ambassadors, Mzwandile Mali, passed away in 2010, his son, Lincoln, had a vision to honour his legacy through rugby.

 

Lincoln, Head of Card and Payments at Standard Bank, noted how successful our sponsorship of school Easter Rugby and Sports Festivals had become and thought, why not start a tournament in the townships? So, he asked his former rugby coach and brother Xolisa Mali, a retired sports administrator, for assistance in starting the Mzwandile Mali Rugby Festival.

The first tournament took place in 2014 with six schools from townships in and around Port Elizabeth. Though it went well, partnerships were needed to secure things like branding, medical kits and security. Luckily, a colleague recommended working with us, Africa’s largest bank by assets, and a meeting was set up with the driving force behind our successful Easter Festival programme, Karen Hawinkle, who took a trip to the tournament herself. Once there, she was blown away by the “immense untapped potential in the area”.

With the bank’s involvement, the tournament received a boost in 2016; it immediately increased the number of participating teams from 6 to 16. It had a bigger profile, with the sponsorship ensuring all the key aspects necessary to make a sports tournament work at the highest level were in place.

 

A major social campaign has been triggered for the next instalment as the tournament’s popularity takes off. In fact, Lincoln plans to bring in more alumni from the community to further mentor the youth – just as his father did for him when he was a player for the Rhodes University XV. Lincoln’s father himself played for local club the Orientals (the Blues) – one of the oldest clubs in SA.

With additional financial support, players and teams now receive larger prizes, and winners can buy kit and equipment, while the man of the tournament receives a bursary for further study. All these rewards prove Lincoln’s assertion that rugby can be the “ultimate benefactor” for disadvantaged youth.

 

Since the sponsorship kicked into high gear, children are coming to the games in full school attire to watch and support, with the EP Rugby Union also in attendance. One of the innovations from next year is for the best players to be selected to one of two sides, which will play against each other at the Grey Rugby Festival.

“It gives me no greater joy to see how organised this tournament is today,” shares Lincoln. “These kids get so excited ahead of the event and are talking about it ahead of time. The veterans are talking about it and looking forward to stepping out in their old team blazers. The future for SA rugby is bright indeed – and it all starts with our youth.”